In Darkest Night, I Am The Flame
by ElikTM
Summary: After losing the Kalos League, Ash is broken and lost. He doesn't know what is holding him back but he has an idea. Relationships will fall apart and new ones will form. But what will happen to Ash after his Kalos defeat? Rated M for future violence, harsh language, and lemons. P.S. this is my first time trying to write fanfiction and I would appreciate feedback. Thanks.
1. Chapter 1

"Greninja is unable to battle. Therefore the winner of this battle and the Kalos League is Alan!" echoed throughout the stadium. Tens of thousands of cheers shook the building, but Ash was silent. He stood still and his mind was drawing blanks. He couldn't even muster a thought other than that of his failure. 'I lost? Again? This can't be happening. This is the farthest I've ever gone and I was supposed to win..' Cheers boomed throughout the stadium as Ash's tears hit the floor beneath him. As Ash and Alan met in the center of the stadium Ash did all he could to avoid eye contact. "Congratulations Alan." Ash said as they shook hands. "You battled really well Ash. I was expecting a great battle and we both got one. Uh, Ash?" Ash had already started to walk off the battlefield and into the corridors that he had passed through thinking that he was going to be Kalos Champion. Ash proceeded through the halls making several twists and turns just as he had done a mere hour ago. Ash tried not to get too worked up before he started to lose his mind. He reached into his bag for a pen and a note and began to write. Pikachu stared in confusion. Ash spoke to Pikachu as he sat down. "I just don't get it. So many leagues and we just can't win. All these years and all of this training and I still don't know what I'm doing wrong!" Tears streamed from Ash's eyes and made clear contact with the ground beneath him. He took a deep breath and took in the scenery right before him. He admired the sleek, white marble building and found peace in the courtyard. He felt the granite underneath him and the trees above him. He was alone and it was helping him find the inner peace he needed. "Come on Pikachu. The others are probably looking for us." Ash and his yellow furred friend walked to the stadium's pokemon center to look for their friends Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie. "Ash! Ash over here!" Ash recognized Serena calling out to him. He could see all of his friends: Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Tierno, Shauna, Trevor, Prof. Sycamore, and Sawyer. He and Pikachu made their way to where they were all sitting, but Ash didn't sit down. He just looked at his friends who had come to support him in the league and felt ashamed. "I'm sorry I let all of you down. You all came to support me and I just couldn't do it even with all of you here." Tears once again filled Ash's eyes and everyone was shocked to see him acting like this. "Ash you did your best and that's all anyone could ever ask of you, even yourself", Clemont chimed in. Others nodded in agreement. "Besides Ash you can always keep training and getting better and you can even enter the league again" Serena encouraged Ash. "You just don't get it! I've done this for years. I can't keep doing it. There's something holding me back and I need to find out what it is." Everyone felt the heat rising off of Ash. They had never seen him this upset with himself. A tear fell from Serena's face. "Ash what are you saying?" Ash let out a deep breath. "I'm saying I think I need to be on my own for a while. Or until I figure everything out. I'm sorry I let you all down, but I mostly let myself down and I can't keep doing this. Thank you for supporting me as much as you did but I think it's time for me to leave." Ash made his way out the door before anyone could even begin to stop him. Serena ran as fast as she could to try and get him to stay. "Ash! Please don't leave me! Please don't leave us!" the automatic doors flew open. Ash was nowhere in sight. Just outside the doors and the top stair of the staircase leading to the road, Serena noticed something on the ground. A note. She read it to herself. 'Serena, Bonnie, Clemont. I'm so sorry that I'm doing this to you. I love you all and you will always be my closest friends and I can't begin to thank you enough for everything you've done for me. But it's my time to go and I think I need to be alone. Serena, I'm sorry that I'm doing this to you. I know how you feel about me, but you need to know the way I am. I've never stuck around with anyone. My journeys end. They always have. I never wanted this one with you to end but I know about your offer from Palermo to train with her and become Kalos Queen. You need to take it and I would only be holding you back. I care about you Serena. That's why I'm leaving. -Ash.' Tears streamed from Serena's face to the stairs below. The love of her life was gone and she was broken.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys I just wanna start off by saying thanks for the comments on chapter 1. I wasn't expecting very many people to take a look at this story and I certainly wasn't expecting any feedback or private messages so soon, so thanks a lot for those. Anyway, on with chapter 2!

Ash felt the warm summer breeze on his face as he took off into the sky. He took a look back and saw the town of Pallet fading in the distance. "Well Charizard I'm so happy to see you again!" Ash let out a laugh. The orange beast grunted and let out a small spray of embers. Ash couldn't let go of the thought of whether or not what he was doing was wrong. Just after leaving his friends and what could have been love with Serena, he rushed to Oak's lab to gather his strongest and closest pokemon. Ash had really struggled with leaving his mother and the remainder of his pokemon in his dust back in Pallet Town, but he knew that he had to get away. "Alright Charizard, we can stop here!" Ash yelled out as loud as he could, but Charizard couldn't hear him. Ash could barely even hear himself. "Charizard! Take us down!" Charizard then let out a deafening roar and dove down through the clouds, stopping just above the ground. "Jeez. You don't have to be so rough one me buddy." Ash swatted away the dust cloud that had formed around him whilst patting off his clothes. Ash took a deep breath as he cleared his eyes of the dust. 'Well. We're here.' Ash's heart rate began to increase. He returned his hotheaded companion to his pokeball and looked up to see the path to Pewter City. "Alright, let's go Pikachu."

Ash hiked down the road as his best friend rested on his shoulder as always. Entering Pewter City Ash pulled out his map. "Should be here somewhere.." he thought out loud. Making a couple twists and turns Ash arrived at the pokemon center in the center of the city. "Alright, here we go." Ash took a deep breath and passed through the automatic doors. Proceeding to the counter, Ash spoke up. "Hi Nurse Joy, would you mind taking my Charizard for me? He should be pretty tired after carrying me all the way here from Pallet." "Sure Ash! It's so nice to see you again. I'll take great care of your Charizard for you." The rose-haired Nurse Joy started to walk away with Ash's pokeball and her Wigglytuff by her side when Ash suddenly opened his mouth to speak. "Oh wait!" Ash lowered his voice after catching a couple glances from random trainers. "Is Dr. Harrison here by any chance? I'd like to speak to him while I wait for Charizard." "Yes of course, he's in the back. I'll go fetch him for you." Nurse Joy let out a subtle wink and strolled away with Ash's pokemon. Ash took a seat and began to ponder his decision to leave Kalos once again. Serena's voice wouldn't leave Ash's mind. He heard her calling out to him and he just left. Ash laid his face in his palms and began to sulk, feeling ashamed of himself. 'If I feel like this I can't even imagine how she feels. How could I do this to her?' Ash couldn't stand being alone with his thoughts. Fortunately enough just as Ash's eyes were beginning to water, he heard his name called over the intercom. "Ash Ketchum. Room 4." He recognized one of the many Nurse Joys' voices. "Come on Pikachu, this way." Pikachu let out a subtle cheer and responded to Ash with a smile, trying to cheer up his best friend.

Ash made his way down the hall behind the front desk and past three small rooms until he saw the number 4 on a sign outside the last room in the hallway. Ash took a peek into the room and caught the end of a friend's conversation. "Damn it Croagunk sit still! Arceus damn you!" The doctor took a poison jack to his side and sank to the floor. "Brock I wish you would be more careful with Croagunk. You obviously never learn." Nurse Joy giggled as she poked at her admirer's misfortune. "Oh and by the way you have a visitor." Joy motioned towards the doorway where none other than Ash and his best friend Pikachu were standing. "Ash! Holy shit Ash, it's great to see you!" Brock wrapped his arms around Ash and nearly threw him into the air. "It's great to see you too Brock, but won't you please put me down?!" Brock released his grip of Ash and Ash landed on his feet, nearly stumbling and falling over. Ash's face quickly changed into one of complete seriousness and Brock became worried. "Nurse Joy could you please give us a couple of minutes?" Brock gave his coworker a look that she understood and Joy retreated from the room. "So what brings you in today Ash?" Brock showed a look of confusion. Ash couldn't help but begin to scratch his own head as he spoke. "Well, you see it's kind of a long story."


End file.
